


No one looks back on their life and remembers the nights they had plenty of sleep

by CalmBeforeAStorm



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Banter, I'm Sorry, M/M, Pure fluff really, bonding yay, just trash, late-night tea-drinking, magnus has been on some crazy nights out, not even fluff if i'm honest, this thing has absolutely no plot whatsoever, what even
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 09:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7043209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalmBeforeAStorm/pseuds/CalmBeforeAStorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus smirks.<br/>‘Three days? That’s nothing. One night in 1973 I stayed awake for five whole days’<br/>‘One night?!’ Alec, laughing, emphasizes the word.<br/>‘And what a night!’</p><p>Sometimes the best conversations happen at 4AM.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No one looks back on their life and remembers the nights they had plenty of sleep

**Author's Note:**

> Back at it again with the pointless Malec fanfiction. Because why the hell not. It's summer.
> 
> Title is a random quote I found on google, I'm fairly certain the author is unknown.  
> I shamelessly stole a line from the brilliant radio drama series Cabin Pressure, by John Finnemore. If you've listened to it before, you'll know which one.  
> I also shamelessly stole the story of a certain incident involving scissors and jeans from the website Texts From Last Night.  
> Everything else is mine (hopefully, lol), bar the characters, who belong to CC.  
> This can be read as taking place in the same verse as my other Shadowhunters fic, if you like.  
> :)

The Institute is quiet by the time Alec, his sister, and Clary stumble in – well, as quiet as the New York Institute ever gets, anyway. He glances down at his watch. 4AM.

Through eyes that are becoming more and more difficult to force open, Alec takes in the few lights dotted around the main control room. Some unlucky Shadowhunters still slaving away at their monitors, he muses. All he himself wants to do is dump his gear and crawl into bed.

Izzy moves ahead as they walk towards the weapons room and kitchen area, leaving Alec to keep pace with Clary and attempt to give her some pointers. Tonight, Clary joined the Lightwood siblings on her first ever night patrol as a Shadowhunter, and although Alec can begrudgingly admit that she hadn’t done too badly, he is a firm believer in the power of constructive criticism.

As the three of them shrug their various weapons and protective gear off, Alec tries to impress on her the dangers of not telling her teammates when she’s tired.

‘If you at least mention it to us, we’ll know to be a little extra vigilant and not split up. If you don’t, we’re going to assume that you’re totally alert, and then what happens if we put you on watch and a whole gang of demons get the jump on us?’

Clary rolls her eyes and nods. Once, this particular mannerism of hers had annoyed Alec no end, until he’d mentioned it to Izzy and she had laughed in his face at the ‘sheer hypocrisy’ of it. Alec couldn’t well continue to get annoyed at Clary’s eye-rolling when his own eyes are nearly permanently skyward these days during Clave briefings/conversations with Maryse.

Izzy shoots a grin at Clary before reaching up and patting Alec on the shoulder.

‘I’m going to grab a glass of water; wait up a second, will you?’

Alec waves her away as he continues his lecture, pretending not to see the desperate oh-god-don’t-go-stop-him-please look Clary gives his sister’s retreating back.

‘-and remember what I told you about hitting with your elbows instead of your fists, for now. We need to train a little more with wraps before you’re able to do that without hurting yourself’

He hesitates.

‘You’re not doing too badly though. As a first patrol mission, it was pretty good, actually. Keep it up’

Clary beams at him, and, as annoying as Alec sometimes finds the girl, her smiles tend to be the infectious kind. He smiles back at her a little and is awkwardly clapping her on the shoulder when Izzy pokes her head around the kitchen door, light streaming from behind her into the otherwise dark corridor. She is grinning.

‘Hey big bro, your man is here!’

_Magnus?_

Stupidly frozen for a moment, Alec tries desperately to control the heat rising in his face – any mention of Magnus still tends to have that effect on him, to be honest – as Izzy, cackling, retreats behind the kitchen door again. He follows Clary into the kitchen, heart beating so loudly in his chest he is scared everyone can hear it. They have been together weeks by now, for heaven’s sake. He really needs to learn to control himself.

Clary is ducking down to give Magnus her usual greeting to him – a kiss on the cheek, earning her a fond, murmured ‘Biscuit’ – so Alec doesn’t get to see him properly until she has moved out of the way.

Magnus beams happily at him, and all Alec can do for a moment is stare. Quite blatantly.

He has never seen Magnus completely _sans-_ makeup before. It is almost a shock to see him, in his dressing gown (albeit an expensive-looking, red silk one), with glossy black hair un-coloured and un-styled, and, perhaps the most shocking of all, clutching a mug of tea – a _non-alcoholic_ drink.

Alec is completely thrown off for a second. It’s not that Magnus doesn’t look good in his usual getup – by the _angel,_ does he look good – but this way, he is not dazzling, or intimidating, or sinful, he’s just _Magnus._ And he’s perfect.

Dazed, Alec somehow manages to shuffle his way closer to his boyfriend, stooping to kiss him hello while his sister and Clary pointedly busy themselves preparing fresh tea.

Accepting Magnus’ unspoken invitation take a seat on the bench next to him, Alec ungracefully collapses into a sitting position, unable to stop himself from grabbing the warlock’s free hand, which has been resting on his knee.

Magnus lips twitch up and he squeezes Alec’s hand. It is only at this moment that Alec realises that Magnus been anxious about him seeing him this way. The thought is strange to Alec. He’s never before known Magnus to be self-conscious.

 Clary sets a few cups and a fresh teapot down. She and Izzy sit on the other side of the table.

‘So Magnus, what are you doing here so late? I know you keep odd hours, but it looks like you’re dressed for bed’

Magnus accepts Clary’s offer of a biscuit - _A biscuit from Biscuit,_ Alec’s boyfriend-addled, sleep-deprived mind thinks for one ludicrous second – and dips it carefully into his tea while answering her question.

‘Indeed I was, but I received an urgent fire message from the Institute’s head healer asking me for help. A Shadowhunter went and got himself poisoned by a Ravener demon on patrol. I almost literally rolled out of bed and straight into a portal. I didn’t have a chance to even throw some glitter over myself, but as you Shadowhunters are so fond of saying, duty before all else’

He winks at Izzy, who blows him a laughing kiss back.

‘I managed to get the poison out of the poor boy’s system, but it was hard work and took a long time. Your father,’ he nods at Izzy, ‘told me I was welcome to have a bit of tea and wait for you three to get back, so I thought, since I was up anyway…’

He asks Clary how her first patrol went, and as the three of them leap into a brief description of the night’s events, Alec takes his chance to examine – and admire – Magnus from a closer perspective. Without his usual gold eyeliner or dark mascara, Alec can see the dark shadows under his eyes, proof of a hard night’s work and weeks of helping the Institute (or rather, Alec, Clary and Izzy) look for Jace.

Magnus, despite Alec’s best efforts, notices him looking, and smiles tiredly.

‘I don’t look the best, I know. It’s been a trying few months’

Alec squeezes his hand again, unsure of what else to do.

‘We’re all tired these days’ Izzy sighs. ‘I didn’t find it easy staying alert tonight, actually’

The other two Shadowhunters murmur their agreement, and the four of them sit in silence for a minute, each lost in their own thoughts.

‘Yeah,’ Alec eventually muses, ‘I’ve been using my stamina rune more and more lately, come to think of it’

Alec hadn’t seen anything remotely sexual in that statement, but Magnus, Alec often complains (laughs) has a talent for finding innuendo behind even the most innocent of words.

‘A _stamina_ rune? Alexander, darling, why has this not been brought to my attention before? Do you realise the possibilities?’

Alec grimaces as Magnus wiggles a suggestive eyebrow at the girls across the table, who promptly burst out laughing.

‘Oh yeah, they exist alright’ Izzy laughs. ‘Jace used to use his all the time for exams. He wouldn’t open a book until three days beforehand, then use his rune to pull three all-nighters in a row and cram. Always aced the exams too’

Alec sniggers. He remembers Jace’s zombie-like appearance around exam season.

Magnus smirks.

‘Three days? That’s _nothing_. One night in 1973 I stayed awake for five whole days’

‘One _night?!’_ Alec, laughing, emphasises the word.

‘And _what a night!’_

After this, the conversation naturally leads to wild nights out. It soon becomes almost a competition of sorts – a competition Alec is certain Magnus is going to win. He has four hundred long years behind him, after all, and once admitted to Alec on a date that he partied so hard during the sixties, his memories of the decade are nearly non-existent.

‘-and before we could stop him, he just tumbled head-first down the stairs. Landed right at the bottom and put his head through the drywall. It would’ve hurt like hell, but me and Simon were nearly certain that he was actually already unconscious by the time he started falling. People just literally stepped over him the rest of the night. Weirdest high school party I ever went to’

Izzy laughs at Clary’s story, cleaning up the crumbs from her biscuit.

‘Well, there was a night I came home super-late from a Downworld party and couldn’t get into the main Institute door for some reason. Too drunk, probably. I eventually managed to climb in what I thought was my bathroom window and just went to sleep right there on the tiles. Poor Alec found me the next morning curled up on his bathroom floor when he went in to brush his teeth’

‘I can _so_ picture you doing that!’ Clary sniggers. She looks across at Alec, grinning. ‘How about you, Mr Grumpy Cat? Any wild night out stories you want to share?’

Magnus turns to watch him, amused, and Alec tries desperately to think of a story to tell. One comes to him suddenly.

‘Um, well a few years ago, Izzy and I had to go to this Mundane club because someone was selling pixie drugs to them there and we needed to find out who it was. Anyway, we got our information eventually, but the dealer wasn’t there that night. I wanted to just go home but Izzy insisted we stay’

Alec ignores Magnus’ huff of laughter.

‘We both drank a little too much, and Izzy went off with someone. I was left on my own at the bar and this guy started chatting to me. And eventually, y’know. Pulled me into the bathroom’

Izzy and Clary look genuinely shocked for a moment, and Alec hurries to save his honour.

‘We were just kissing, honestly! But, like, eventually I told him I had to go, and he asked if he could have something to remember me by. So I said sure, and he pulled out these scissors from his pocket and cut out a perfect square from my jeans and kept it. It was really weird. I just said goodbye and got out as fast as I could, to be honest’

Magnus laughs, loud and delighted. Izzy is laughing too.

‘I asked you about that the next day and you told me Max had gotten into your wardrobe and done it! Why didn’t you tell me the truth, that’s an _amazing_ story’

Alec grins, shrugs.

‘Well, I couldn’t really tell you I had been making out with a guy in a club toilet, could I? You would have known I was gay’

Izzy sobers up a little, smiling across at him.

‘I’m glad you can tell me now, big bro’

Alec smiles back. ‘So am I, Iz’

Magnus clears his throat.

‘I believe I have the story to beat even that bizarre incident, Alec’

Clary drains the rest of her tea as the three of them lean towards the warlock in anticipation.

‘I’ll keep it simple, since it’s late. It was the early 1800s, if I recall correctly. I was at a party thrown by one of my werewolf friends over in London, and without going into too much detail, let’s just say that things got very wild, very quickly. The last thing I really remember of the night was leaving the house with a few others to take a walk along the Thames. When I woke up the next morning, I was alone on a park bench in Dublin’

Clary nearly chokes on her tea and there are peals of surprised laughter from Izzy. Even Alec finds tears in his eyes by the time the three of them stop laughing. Magnus looks pleased at their reaction.

‘How did you get there?!’Alec manages to wheeze out.

‘I have absolutely no idea. My best bet is by boat, but I have no recollection of getting on it. Don’t know where everyone else went either, when I asked one of them about it years later he said that I had told them I was going to buy a pie and I just never came back’

‘And what did you do?’ Clary, this time.

Magnus shrugs, fiddling with the handle of his mug.

‘I knew a couple in Dublin, so I went to their house. And they happened to be throwing a party too, so I just joined in’

Izzy shakes her head.

‘Oh my god, Magnus. You sound amazing to party with, to be honest’

Clary jumps in then, face shining with excitement.

‘What about we all go out after we get Jace back? The four of us and Jace and Simon? What do you think?’

After that, a heated planning discussion begins, and Alec lets himself drift away a little, since this stuff isn’t really his area.

Looking at the three others at the table, leaning in close and scribbling down a list of Downworld bars to visit on the pub crawl they seem to be planning, Alec is struck by the contrast between this scene and his life only a few months previously. He was still closeted back then, or ‘fricken’ repressed’ as Izzy would put it. Coming back from a night patrol like this, he would have just said goodnight to Izzy and Jace at the door of the Institute and stumbled into bed for a night of restless sleep.

Now here he is, sitting under the harsh fluorescent kitchen lights (which somehow manage to be cosy) in the middle of the night, wonderful boyfriend on one side, his sister and a new friend opposite. Laughing and telling stories.

He may have lost a few things along the way – his relationship with his parents, for one – but he’s gained a lot more.

Eventually, Magnus stands up and declares that it’s time to head back for his ‘beauty sleep’.

He throws back the last of his probably-cold-by-now tea (and Alec tries not to admire the line of his throat too long, he can see Izzy grinning at him already) and steps away from the table, graceful hands weaving a portal into existence.

(Alec won’t even ask how Magnus manages to create a portal inside the Institute, where the wards should really prevent him. He’s snuck in to see him so many times using that method, Alec can’t really complain)

Turning, silky hair almost blue under the light and bare face wearing one of the happiest expressions Alec has ever seen, Magnus holds out a hand to him.

‘Joining me, Alexander?’

Alec has only time to flush and splutter a little before Magnus laughs and uses his hand to blow him a kiss.

‘Just joking, darling. See you tomorrow?’

Alec just nods, trying not to grin like a fool, and Magnus turns to walk into the portal. He waves a hand over his shoulder at the Shadowhunters.

‘’Night, all’

A chorus of ‘Goodnight!’s follow him through the portal, and then the three of them are left alone in the kitchen.

Each of them sits in contemplation for a moment, suddenly feeling tired – but pleasantly so.

Alec glances at his watch. 5AM.

Izzy stands up first, yawning, and says goodnight. Clary pauses for a moment, glancing at Alec.

‘Heading to bed, Alec?’

He smiles at her, feeling inexplicably closer to her than he was just an hour ago. That’s what late-night – or early-morning – conversations tend to do to people, he supposes.

‘Yeah. I’ll just wash up these mugs, then I’ll head’

She offers to help, but Alec waves her away. She says goodnight, and then Alec is left alone at the sink, hands methodically rinsing their four mugs. As he sets them upside-down on the draining board to dry, he thinks of Magnus, and the way he had looked tonight. The way he had looked at _him,_ so unguarded and happy and relaxed.

Before Magnus came into their lives, if anyone had told Alec that it was possible to miss someone he had seen only saw a few minutes ago, he would have laughed in their face (or more likely, rolled his eyes).

But Alec misses Magnus. Already.

Without letting himself think about it, Alec digs out his phone and sends a quick message.

**I’m still in the kitchen. Come pick me up?**

He gets a response less than five seconds later, and Alec grins. Another message is quickly sent to Izzy, letting her know where he’s headed. His phone buzzes with Izzy's response after a moment or two.

**(** ******͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). Have fun!**

Alec doesn’t even want to know what _that_ means.

He shoves his phone back into his pocket, and sits and waits for the portal to open.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope someone enjoyed this mess. God help me.
> 
> *October 2017: I'm on Tumblr now! calmbeforeastorm.tumblr.com :)


End file.
